A charity leader must make positive changes to how he functions around staff and the board. He knows what he must do – yet why is he so disengaged?
The issue
Darren is a leader in crisis. He comes to coaching as a first-time CEO of a small national charity hit hard by the pandemic. Revenue and staff morale have plummeted.
Darren feels anxious and isolated. His relationship with his board of trustees is in bad shape. He feels intimidated by them and has lost their confidence.
His first stated coaching goal is to project more confidence and impact with the board – though the coach notes Darren sounds half-hearted when he articulates this.
Second, Darren wants to be more ‘strategic’ in producing a turnaround plan for the charity. He enjoys fire-fighting and day-to-day problem-solving. But he struggles to think more long term. He feels stuck and would like the coaching to help unblock him. He realises his job is at risk.
There has been one coaching session so far, focused on building rapport and clarifying the goals. Darren committed to some actions on his turnaround plan, including carving out more thinking space. But he reports at the start of the next session that “he didn’t have time”.
The coaching already feels like it risks getting bogged down in Darren’s ambivalence around how much he really wants change. The coach has a sense that Darren is evading responsibility and, despite the stakes, he’s strangely disengaged.
The interventions
Paul Heardman, Coach and coaching supervisor
I’m curious about the ambivalence and disengagement – what might that be signalling about what else is going on here? Darren’s half-heartedness around the board relationship could suggest incongruence between his stated goal and his deeper feelings. So before any interventions around personal impact or strategic planning, I’d be inclined to explore Darren’s assumptions. In particular, I’m interested in his back story – how have his formative experiences shaped his current behaviour? Julia Vaughan Smith and Jenny Rogers highlight how the impact of trauma frequently shows up in coaching in terms of survival behaviours. Exploring what connections Darren himself might make between his early experiences of authority and what happens when he engages with his board could open new insights for him.
I wonder also about system dynamics. A table-top constellations exercise might help Darren gain greater perspective, separating symptoms from deeper, less obvious causes.
John Whittington recommends asking what happened to someone’s predecessor – has this CEO role become ‘burdened’ systemically in some way? And what system forces might be impacting on the strategy?
Given this client is in crisis, his firefighting could tempt him to rush for ‘quick fix’ solutions. Instead, I might invite him to give voice to his ambivalence – what does that part of him really want? Keeping in check the need to fix could be the most powerful gift we offer Darren. Then, through coaching, he will discover his own solutions.
References
- Jenny Rogers and Julia Vaughan Smith: www.coachingandtrauma.com
- J Whittington, Systemic Coaching & Constellations (3rd ed), Kogan Page, 2020
Liz Cox, Executive coach and advisor to business boards
Darren clearly feels anxious and demoralised. His presenting stance of disengagement and low energy suggests emotional turmoil under the surface, hence he feels stuck.
I would approach this coaching assignment as an opportunity for Darren to get clarity on what is getting in his way, and to start to develop new thinking and strategies to help him move forward.
Raising self-awareness is a key part of this process, and as an MBTI and Hogan qualified practitioner, I would use these psychometrics to heighten Darren’s understanding of his personality preferences, values and drivers.
Clearly, Darren’s leadership role is under pressure. Exploring the nature and requirements of leadership (using Steve Radcliffe’s brilliant leadership model, Future, Engage, Deliver) can help to bring greater clarity to Darren’s job as CEO and highlight ways of engaging with his staff to get better results.
Creating a positive shift in energy among his pandemic-weary staff may be a key factor in Darren improving his leadership engagement. This would entail paying attention to the impact he has on them in his role, looking at ways of being ‘at his best’ more of the time, and conveying a positive vision for the future of the charity.
I would encourage Darren to explore the roles and interactions on his board of trustees. Working with the principles of team dynamics, we could examine ways of improving his relationships with board members by building trust and demonstrating his commitment to the charity’s strategic goals.
Beyond these organisational insights and frameworks, it’s the coaching relationship that is the true change agent. Providing a safe space and conveying my belief in Darren’s ability to make positive changes are the greatest coaching tools I have at my disposal.
Reference
- S Radcliffe, Leadership: Plain and Simple (2nd ed), FT Publishing Intl, 2012